Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's comments that farmers have little “gray matter” have rightly stirred controversy. However, in the justifiable backlash, people have overlooked another, equally concerning portion of his comments. Video has resurfaced, as it has a habit of doing during elections, of Bloomberg discussing the progression of the economy from an ancient agricultural society, to the Industrial Revolution, to the burgeoning information economy. The concerning words Michael Bloomberg uttered, which have gone unremarked, are: “I could teach anybody … to be a farmer.” Whether in the ancient world or the present, Bloomberg – who, it may be safely discerned, is unacquainted with the working end of a hoe – would be ill-equipped to teach anyone the secrets of the agricultural trade. Delusions of competence give politicians the confidence to issue a torrent of regulations so complete that they drown those with real-world experience.

It's not news that America's trust in public institutions is falling. Gallup polls reveal that confidence in the church is at an all time low, and similarly, Pew Research has found that Americans' trust in the federal government and in each other is "shrinking." In his new book, titled “A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream,” Yuval Levin argues that the widespread lack of trust we're facing stems largely from weakened institutions – and the path forward rests in strengthening institutions rather than tearing them down. In this episode, he joins the podcast to help explain why our institutions have weakened and what we can do to address it. Yuval is an American political analyst and journalist. He is the founding editor of National Affairs and the director of social, cultural, and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute.